Go ahead and wear your heart on your sleeve. Say it, sing it, use a pen, a typewriter, paint a picture, make a movie. The world is your canvas; and look, it's an enormous canvas!

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Institute

This isn't the first time I have written about The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and honestly, it probably won't be the last.

Today, Shabbat, Parsha Va'Eira, was very special. There was a Bar Mitzvah of Avi, a son of one my teachers at Pardes, Meesh Hammer Kossoy. I have no idea how many students attended, but I couldn't look into any part of the crowd, and not see a classmate, teacher, dean, rosh yeshiva, spouse, significant other, etc.

Maybe this is normal for an "institute," maybe all places are like this, and they attend celebrations of co-workers and teachers. But, I have never been part of an institute that functions like this. I even looked up the definition of institute, so see if this was normal.

There doesn't seem to be anything explicit to think that this is how an institute would function. So what is it about Pardes that creates an environment that nearly the entire faculty and student body goes to a simcha/celebration of another faculty member?

I think there is a sense of family that develops very quickly. We obviously all leave our homes to come to Jerusalem, yes, some with spouses, but most come alone. We quickly look up to our teachers/rabbis not just for Jewish guidance, but life guidance. Yes, they are amazing teachers of Tanakh, gemara, mishna, Rambam, Hassidute, etc., but more than anything, they serve as role models. They invite us into their homes to spend time with their children, to meet their wives/husbands. They feed us, they sing with us, they pray with us, they listen to us, they truly become like parents, (or in some cases like older siblings.)

So, it is no surprise that when one of our beloved teachers has a celebration, we, as family, all want to attend.

As for Avi, the bar mitzvah, he did an amazing job. He gave a dvar torah that could rival the best any Shabbat morning, read Torah and the Haftarah beautifully, ducked quickly out of the way of flying Hershey kisses, thanked his brother and sister for being the best siblings in the world, and graciously accepted all the mazal tovs he received.

And as for his parents, they, of course, were exemplary models of loving, devoted parents who were beaming with pride over their son's rites of passage.

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Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

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So, let us not be blind to our differences - - but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal. -JFK

"If we looked down at the world from space,we would not see any demarcations of national boundaries.We would simply see one small planet, just one."

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sometimes I layunder the moonand thank God I'm breathingthen I praydon't take me sooncause I am here for a reasonsometimes in my tears I drownbut I never let it get me downso when negativity surroundsI know some day it'll all turn aroundbecauseall my life I've been waiting forI've been praying forfor the people to saythat we don't wanna fight no morethey'll be no more warsand our children will play

one day

it's not aboutwin or losewe all losewhen they feed on the souls of the innocentblood drenched pavementkeep on moving though the waters stay ragingin this maze you can lose your wayit might drive you crazy but don't let it faze you no waysometimes in my tears I drownbut I never let it get me downso when negativity surroundsI know some day it'll all turn aroundbecauseall my life I've been waiting forI've been praying forfor the people to saythat we don't wanna fight no morethey'll be no more warsand our children will play

one day

one day this all will changetreat people the samestop with the violencedown with the hateone day we'll all be freeand proud to beunder the same sunsinging songs of freedom like

one day

all my life I've been waiting forI've been praying forfor the people to saythat we don't wanna fight no morethey'll be no more warsand our children will play